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Social Impact
The program is anchored in four Social Impact Values that guide student reflection and growth: Empathy, Collaboration, Purpose, and Advocacy. Students return to these values after each service experience, integrating them into their personal and academic development.
How Community Engagement Evolved Into Social Impact
After careful reflection and cross-departmental collaboration, the Community Engagement program was recently renamed and reframed as the Social Impact Program, reflecting a deep alignment with UHS’s mission of fostering transformational experiences that empower purpose larger than self. The phrase “social impact” emphasizes not only service within the community, but also the broader, lasting effects of students’ actions on society. The Social Impact program highlights the importance of students seeing themselves as active participants in creating meaningful change; signals a more expansive vision that integrates service, advocacy, and collaboration; and underscores the importance of cultivating purpose and responsibility in all aspects of students’ lives, not simply completing service hours.
Recent Social Impact & Community Service Club Opportunities
The Journey: Experiencing the Social Impact Program in Grades 9–12
The Social Impact program builds across all four years of high school, adding depth, responsibility, and independence at each stage
9th Grade
The 9th grade year introduces students to the connections between curriculum and community service. Each cohort completes two grade-level service projects—one during the fall retreat and one in the spring semester. These projects are designed to connect with the service-learning components of Ethnic Studies, English, and Physics courses.
Beginning their UHS journey with service tied directly to academics helps students immediately connect with the mission of UHS and Responsive Education.
10th Grade
The 10th grade year emphasizes purpose and collaboration, with a strong focus on reflection. The Social Impact curriculum is delivered through clusters, where students explore values, research social issues, and design a multi-year social impact experience to continue through 12th grade.
Clusters explore the values of UHS, their families, and the Social Impact Program to develop their own personal values. They engage deeply with issues such as climate change, environmental justice, and housing and food insecurity, aligning their work with the UN Sustainable Development Goals: No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Climate Action. Each cluster then identifies an issue of focus, partners with an organization, and begins sustained, meaningful work to drive long-term impact.
11th & 12th Grade
By 11th and 12th grade, the program shifts toward empathy and collaboration. Each cluster continues its multi-year social impact project and partners closely with its chosen organization, completing at least two direct service experiences annually.
Students also commit to three independent service days or shifts each year, either with their cluster’s partner or with another organization. They are encouraged to integrate service they already perform—through NCL, Service Corps, religious communities, or other groups—into their Social Impact requirements.
Students may also design an independent study, crafting their own Social Impact program through an existing partnership or by building a new initiative. Independent studies require at least 30 hours of engagement per year and satisfy the independent service requirement. These projects allow students to pursue passion-driven impact while building leadership and initiative.
Every service experience concludes with a reflection, connecting actions back to the Social Impact Values. This cycle of engagement, reflection, and growth reinforces the long-term skills of advocacy, accountability, and compassion.